Jabberwocky
by One Nutty Tree
Summary: When 2 anomalies appear at the same time the team is forced to split up. Whilst Cutter and Stephen deal with a dinosaur Connor and Abby discover an entirely different world. Warning: I haven't seen Alice in ages, so she's probably really out of character.
1. Chapter 1

The anomaly alert alarm blared throughout the ARC. Connor sat at his computer screen terribly confused as to why it was coming out twice as loud as normal. Soon the rest of the team joined him. They didn't look too happy at this latest development.

"What's going on Connor?" Cutter asked.

"I'm not sure..."

"Well you'd better find out otherwise I think I shall die from sound poisoning." remarked Lester as he walked past the group.

Connor began to type and a few seconds later two red bleeping dots came up on the screen.

"What does that mean?" questioned Abby.

"Oh my god. It means there's two anomalies open."

"Right. Connor and Abby can take – that one" announced Cutter pointing to one of the red dots on the map. "Me and Stephen will take this one."

As the group got into their cars and grabbed their weapons Abby carefully examined Connor's face. Whatever they'd discovered it was confusing him a lot and she wasn't too surprised.

"How can there be two anomalies open at the same time?" she queried.

"Like this." he replied as she started to drive.

Since it was her car there was little chance of her letting him touch it let alone drive. Abby trusted Connor with all the technology in the world, apart from her own. Despite all his brilliance he could be incredibly stupid sometimes.

By the time they arrived at the anomaly site Cutter had already phoned them to say he and Stephen had arrived at theirs. Connor and Abby examined their anomaly. The alleyway they were in was very dim; there was no sign of the signature glow an anomaly would typically emit and so it took them a while to find it. After a few minutes of searching the dank place Connor received another phone call from Cutter. He sounded quite out of breath as he spoke.

"Connor we've found a creature. It has a reptilian body like a dragon's yet the head of a turkey. Whoa!" there was a pause as Cutter dodged the creature; Connor could hear its heavy breathing as it rushed past. "It has these gigantic talons too. Ring any bells?"

"No." answered Connor worriedly.

"Not even a little bit?" Stephen yelled into the phone having grabbed it off Cutter.

"Sorry mate. Maybe it's from the future?"

"It doesn't – seem – clever – enough!" he panted. "We're just about to drive it through –"

A bang came from the phone and then there was silence.

"Stephen? Cutter!" yelled Connor in alarm.

The silence continued for a while before Stephen replied.

"Sorry, dropped the phone. Cutter's just got it through, I'm not quite sure how but I'm glad I didn't have to. I'm handing you over to him now."

"We're about to go back to the ARC but that creature was nothing like I've ever seen before. It appeared to be some huge hybrid. These anomalies appeared at the exactly the same time. That must mean they're linked. Ours is gone so I want you to-"

"Go through ours and see if we can sort out that creature for good?" Connor guessed.

"Yes. It's far too dangerous to roam around history."

"See you at the ARC." said Connor and hung up.

Abby had walked over to him to eavesdrop on one half of the conversation. She knew just as well as Connor what had to be done, but first they needed to find the anomaly. They already spent quite a while searching. Connor leant back against a pile of junk on the wall resting briefly before they began it again. His weight however accidentally sent the large object crashing down. Connor jumped away in shock.

"Oops!" he exclaimed as the piece of fragile wood smashed on the floor.

Behind it however was an old mirror. It was at least a metre wide surrounded by an old wooden frame of grandeur. The surface of it rippled unnaturally. Abby nervously approached it.

"Connor, I think you may have found our anomaly."

She reached out to touch it and the ripples spread, gathering around her finger. As they grew larger they seemed to grow in strength and Abby was pulled through.

"Abby!" Connor shouted.

Not stopping to think about getting help he dived through the looking glass after her.

He was falling through a whirlpool of clouds. He could see Abby below him screaming and flailing around in the air. He however wasn't due to the fact that he'd forgotten to breathe. It felt like he was being squeezed to a pulp, there was no space for air. Abby suddenly disappeared below him as if she'd travelled through an invisible door.


	2. Chapter 2

Alice was teaching Hatter karate. He'd wanted to learn as he felt his fighting was getting sloppy with no bad guys or evil henchmen rabbits to practise on. He was quite good at it, not as good as her previous boyfriend Jack Heart but good enough for her to be impressed. She didn't show it of course, she was too busy dodging as his famous right hook slammed past her face and almost went into the looking glass beside them. Alice pulled him away from the magical gateway. She didn't want to go home yet, Hatter had already met her mum and their holiday was only just getting started. She felt so much freer with him; her change of attitude had been almost instant when he became her boyfriend. Alice was now more trusting, friendlier and scarily optimistic at times.

All of a sudden a woman rolled out of the gateway onto the marble palace floors before the looking glass. She promptly stopped screaming as she realised she was somewhere else. She got to her feet shakily and brushed her blonde hair out of her eyes as she examined the place. Turning to Alice she opened her mouth about to ask her a question when a young man came out of the gateway barrelling into her headfirst. They both lay sprawled on the ground.

"Ouch Connor!" the blonde complained.

"Sorry Abby." he gasped.

The woman called Abby dusted herself off and sprung to her feet for the second time, helping Connor stand. The man swayed.

"Connor are you okay?" Abby asked in concern.

His double vision combined with general dizziness certainly didn't feel okay.

"Erm..." he groaned.

"He'll be fine," Alice assured. "the looking glass does that to you, especially if you hold your breath. It's quite disorientating, I was knocked out by it the second time I went through."

"Who are you?" murmured Connor.

"I'm Alice, this is Hatter and you're in Wonderland."

"Like the story? No way!" Abby exclaimed. "Connor how can we be - ?"

But Connor was distracted by something else entirely. His eyes were fixed on this 'Hatter'. It was if he was staring into a mirror. The man had the same dark hair as him, the same pale face shape and skin, even the same eye colour. Abby looked just as astonished. It was as if the pair were twins yet she could tell they'd never even met before. Connor promptly collapsed.

"See what I mean." Alice pointed out. "Enough about us, who are you?"

After some considerable explanation of anomalies together Abby and Alice moved Connor to what Alice said was somewhere safe. Abby didn't know the woman but she seemed friendly enough and she had no choice but to trust her now. Hatter refused to touch the man before he knew who or what he was. Alice didn't blame him knowing how creepy this must be but Abby was not impressed.

Connor was currently resting on a table in a strangely lit room. It seemed to be a cross between a lab and a hospital. Alice said it was a testing room for the Hospital of Dreams. It was here they tested their cures. Abby who had no idea what this meant just nodded and smiled. The UV light filtered through the ceiling and the lab equipment was scattered about the tables and floor. In short, it was quite messy. The room had no visible walls except one, everything else was a window. Abby felt as if they'd been trapped in an animal enclosure. From the outside Hatter looked in on them. Abby stood by Connor's side whilst Alice interrogated her.

"So...are you guys together?"

"Oh no! God no." Abby laughed nervously. That was one question she hadn't been expecting. "We're just friends who share a flat."

"Who work together." Alice added, not at all convinced. "You obviously care about him."

"I am his friend, that is my job. When he's wakes up he's going to need a big hug."

Abby looked down on him, still slightly concerned despite Alice's assurance he'd be fine.

_It's just like having a hangover, you feel ill, and you pass out. When you wake up you'll have a huge headache but you will recover._ Alice had told her. All the same, it wasn't every day you travelled through the Looking Glass. Abby found herself beginning to believe Alice's tales of Wonderland. The mirror had been a portal of some kind but no average anomaly. Her thoughts however were brought to a standstill as Connor opened his eyes.

He sat up slowly and winced. Abby smiled, Alice had been right about the headache. Before he could ask any stupid questions she gave him a hug as promised. They stood like that for several minutes.

"Connor?" asked Abby reminded of the last time they'd hugged.

"Yes?"

"You can let go now."

"Sorry." Alice laughed. Connor glanced at her, then at the strange figure on the other side of the windows. "I was hoping this would've been a dream." he commented and nervously waved to himself.

Hatter smiled on the other side of the windows. Maybe this was a good thing; he'd been waiting for a sign that the man was not hostile. At least, that was his excuse for avoiding Connor completely up till now, that and the fact that it was just plain weird that he had a clone. Abby escorted him out of the testing room along with Alice.

"Hi." Hatter greeted.

"Hello!"

"Looks like we've got a lot to talk about."

"Yup."


	3. Chapter 3

Hatter and Connor sat outside the palace of Hearts sharing an awkward silence. None of them knew where to begin. The girls were busy chatting in the palace as Alice showed Abby round. Finally Connor spoke.

"So tell me about yourself. What's it like living in a fictional world?"

"Surprisingly real."

"I can believe that." agreed Connor; after all he spent half of his life engaging in science fiction films and books.

"My life was relatively normal up to the age of nine excepting the occasional school fights. Generally I won, but if I didn't I learnt enough to bring the other kid down with me. When I turned nine the Queen of Hearts began to rule Wonderland."

"Dun, dun duh!" Connor sang. Hatter gave him a strange look that he recognised from Abby. "Shutting up."

"Before her we had a brilliant red king, the comparison did not help at the time. My parents joined the resistance and had to hide to underground to avoid being found out. When I turned 14 I joined the resistance too and became an apprentice at a shop where they sold oyster emotions. It was around then that I donned my first hat."

"Is that why they call you Hatter then?"

Hatter rolled his eyes, that explanation made sense but it still irritated him.

"Why does everybody say that! I'm called that because I'm always there when they pass the hat." Connor didn't think this made any more sense but decided not to complain, after all, he had a thing for fedoras so he had no right to complain about the golden top hat that his lookalike was currently wearing. "I worked as double agent for the resistance. But as a result I saw less and less of my parents, people underground didn't trust me. It was around this time that I took to wearing a bullet proof vest. Then I met Alice who got me shot. By accident, I suppose I shouldn't have tried to bargain with Dodo."

"Whoa, you bargained with a dodo?" exclaimed Connor.

Hatter sighed. This could take a lot of explaining.

Meanwhile Alice was cheerfully telling Abby her life story occasionally pausing to gesture and explain parts of the palace. She knew the place well, she may not be Jack's wife as he had wanted but the couple had remained friends. He was a good man and had been happy to give her the proper tour. She glanced at Abby who looked distracted.

"Alice, sorry can I just stop you there, are there any creatures in Wonderland?"

"Of course! There are loads."

"Well, we're looking for..." she paused trying to remember the description Connor had told her then gave up. "a dinosaur."

"You're going to have to be more specific than that." Alice replied.

"I think Connor said that Cutter told him it had the head of a turkey...the wings of a dragon, and big claws with long fingers." Abby recited.

"Hm. Maybe I can help you."

With that Alice dragged Abby down the huge spiral stair case, past various stone statues and into a room. Abby span round, examining her surroundings. The walls were covered in tapestries depicting many monsters.

"This is where the monster archives are kept. All the creatures that have ever lived to be written of in Wonderland are recorded in here somewhere."

Abby's eyes were instantly drawn to the largest tapestry in the room; it also appeared to be the oldest judging by the faded parchment. The creature fitted her description exactly.

"What's that one?"

Alice waltzed up to the picture and spotted some small writing in the corner.

"The Jabberwocky." she announced. "I almost didn't recognise it for a moment there!"

"The what? You recognise it?"

"Yeah, me and Hatter had a narrow escape from it once. We were trying to set it on my pursuers but it didn't exactly work."

By this time the boys had got through Hatter's story. Now the man was curious of Connor's.

"Well, I've had a really boring life compared to that." Connor decided.

"Go on." encouraged Hatter.

"I was an orphan for starters. But I was quickly adopted. My foster parents were brilliant; dad brought me to love Star Wars along with many other TV series. They were also so considerate, despite my difference."

"Difference?"

"I'd rather not talk about it."

"We're identical Connor. I can probably guess what it is."

"Yes, well don't do it now. I got bullied a fair bit at school for being an irritating super-nerd but eventually I made some friends and we looked after each other. Sort of. Together we were mad about conspiracies, but I could think of one even Tom and Duncan couldn't swallow. Eventually I stopped voicing it. Anyways, the whole anomaly thing began when I went to university. I found this article about a break into the Forest of Dean. I showed to my professor and his right hand man. They didn't believe me but we investigated all the same. Turned out I was right, there was a dinosaur there that had come through a rip in time and space. What we like to call anomalies."

"So how did you meet Abby then?"

"Shut up I'm getting to that. Abby was a reptile expert, she worked at the local zoo. Eventually we all bumped into one another and the government got involved. Sometime later the Anomaly Research Centre, ARC for short was set up and it's my current job to contain the anomalies. The team consists of Cutter, our scientist and leader; Stephen, the hunter; me, the gadget guy and Abby the reptile expert. Sometime later I realised just how dangerous my job was when a parasite from a dodo got Tom killed. It was around this time that I moved in with Abby." Hatter wolf whistled at this news. It was obvious that Connor liked her, which had been clear from their hug. "Ha, not like that. I wish it was but it wasn't. It didn't take long for me to mess things up. Besides she had this thing about Stephen anyways. I think she's gone off him now but I don't think she'll ever see me as anything other than a friend." Hatter could sympathise. The closest he'd ever come to acting like Connor was his awkward, misunderstood, nonchalant conversation with Alice before she left through the Looking Glass to go back home. He couldn't imagine that stretching out for as long as Connor's feelings for Abby had. "Today the alarm went off on my anomaly detector twice as loud as normal. So we split up to investigate and here I am!" he finished.

"Okay, one thing I don't get."

"What's that?"

"What's your big difference you mentioned earlier?"

"You know how I said I love conspiracies? This is the reason why."

Connor lifted up his shirt so it was just above his stomach.

"What am I meant to be looking at –" asked Hatter in a puzzled voice before realising.

Connor had no bellybutton.

"I used to think that I was a result of some strange genetic experiment or something. As I got older I grew out of that theory, but now I've met you so much more is making sense."

Connor lowered his top once more. Hatter didn't know what to say.

Abby raced towards the pair followed by a confused Alice.

"Perfect timing, we've just finished swapping stories." Connor told her casually.

"Connor we've got a problem." Abby declared.

Hatter joined Alice as the Connor and Abby talked.

"We so need to get those two together." Alice mentioned.

"You're absolutely right."


	4. Chapter 4

"The Jabberwocky!" Connor exclaimed.

"You've heard of it?" asked Abby incredulously.

"There's a whole book about it! I used to love it as a kid. How can you have not heard of the Jabberwocky?"

"Connor focus. If it's here then there must be an anomaly in the forest. Maybe we won't need to kill the creature if we can work out a way of closing the anomaly."

"Abby, that anomaly has been open for quite a while now. Hatter told me the Jabberwocky had lived in the Wonderland forest for as long he could remember. He told me it has killed; he told me how dangerous it was. I think it needs putting down. Besides, how would we close the anomaly?"

Abby sighed, she knew Connor was right but she didn't like to kill creatures on account of their instinct.

"Connor!" Hatter interrupted.

"What?"

"I think you should meet my parents."

"WHAT?"

"Do you want to find out who you are or not?"

Connor winced as he noticed that now both of the girls were shooting him quizzical looks. He didn't want to explain things all over again. It was kind of personal and he preferred to keep it that way. When he talked to Hatter he felt like he was talking to part of himself. What Hatter was saying made sense anyways.

"Fine." he agreed.

"Connor what about the Jabberwocky?" called Abby as he followed Hatter.

"Do a little research, explain to Alice. We need to know its strengths and weaknesses before we go about bringing it down."

Abby didn't look too happy at this suggestion. Connor knew this was not their normal method. Usually they'd just charge right into the situation swinging their guns but this creature was different. It was a mythical creature; Connor felt that it deserved a little more respect.

Hatter's home was not far away from the palace. It was a pretty cottage, however instead of the walls being decorated by flowers it was decorated with hats of all colours. Connor found that he preferred them to flowers; you couldn't be allergic to them as easily. Connor stood on the doorstep outside mentally preparing himself and taking deep breaths. Before they knocked on the door Hatter gave him some tips on how to handle his parents.

"How this goes all depends on their reactions. Be friendly because they probably won't. Don't panic, that'll just make things worse. Don't speak unless spoken to."

"Okay now this is just sounding like a Victorian kid's memo." Connor joked.

Hatter frowned at him, during the short time he'd spent in Alice's world he never had the time for history. What did it matter when what you did now counted? However he knew himself and Connor well enough by now to recognise the joking tone of voice.

"This is no joke; they won't want any more information than necessary."

"Let's just go in and get this over with. You're doing a very good job of building up unnecessary suspense."

"That's because you don't know my parents." Hatter pointed out before turning and knocking on the door.

It was soon opened by his mother. She was a plump woman with rosy cheeks and wavy dark hair. She gazed down on her son with a disproving expression.

"Hi mum." squeaked Hatter sounding almost as nervous as Connor.

"What have you got yourself into this time?" she tutted. "Well I suppose you'd better come in." Hatter stepped inside. "You too!" Connor joined him. Hatter seemed to relax, so far all was going well. "Howard!" yelled his mother.

Hatter went rigid once more as the sound of his father trampling downstairs came nearer and nearer. Finally a stern man turned the corner. He was wearing such a dazzling suit that it hurt your eyes if you regarded it for too long, his hat gleamed in the light. Connor blinked. Hatter passed him a pair of sunglasses. He'd come prepared. The glare of the suit was muted slightly through the glasses but was still there. The man pushed his glasses further up his nose and inspected the duplicates. He'd done nothing particularly menacing yet but his suit scared Connor to no end. A person who could wear something that dazzling had to be very different to a normal human being on the inside. He knew it was bizarre and irrational reasoning but he couldn't care less.

"Well you had to find out sometime I suppose." he said to nobody in particular. "You young man, or is it you? Which one of you is David?" Hatter winced at the use of his real name and raised his hand. "Right. Don't look so ashamed boy, David is a much better name than 'Hattie'"

Connor suppressed a chuckle.

"Hatter."

"It doesn't matter, right. You!"

Hatter's father pointed at Connor.

"Yes?"

"I am scientist, believe it or not."

"That's nice to know sir." Connor acknowledged wondering if the conversation was going to go anywhere.

"Don't get funny with me." Connor promptly shut up reminding himself of the Victorian memo rule. "I'm guessing you're here because you want to know why you're identical to David. Well, I worked with oysters for a while. Some of them were very talkative. To my surprise I learnt a lot about cloning, I decided the only way to find out how it worked properly was to conduct my own experiments. Here in Wonderland our technology is far more advanced."

"I volunteered to be his guinea pig." piped up Hatter's mother. "I was pregnant at the time with David."

"I wanted to create the perfect son, one whose head wouldn't be filled with nonsense, one who wouldn't cry in the night and wake everyone up. So I decided that if I separated out the good from the bad through cloning I could do it. But something went wrong. Instead I ended up with two boys, completely identical but both with an even balance of right and wrong in them. One was genetically created, the other had been born. I chose to keep the real son, who'd been born to us and gave away the other to an oyster who said she worked in an orphanage. So here you are."

Connor turned and left unable to control the emotions in him any longer. He'd been right. Sort of. In Connor's opinion the experiment had worked: Hatter was perfect. As soon as he got out of the front door he started to run. He needed to something to take his mind off things, killing a mystical creature would do the trick.


	5. Chapter 5

Connor found Abby and Alice exactly where he'd left them pouring over some ancient scrolls.

"Found anything useful?" he asked crouching down beside them.

"Not particularly. The entire thing is made up of nonsense words; we'd need a translator first." Abby admitted.

"I don't think there is anyone who can translate this stuff." added Alice.

"Oh well. We'll just have to try the traditional method." Connor decided. Abby perked up at this. "Grab your gun."

Alice looked at Connor, something didn't seem right.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be fine? I'm as fine as – erm – a fine person." he lied.

Abby and Alice exchanged glances. Connor was a rubbish liar.

"Where's Hatter?" Alice questioned.

"Who cares?" he responded bitterly.

Now something was obviously wrong. Last time the two girls had seen the doppelgangers together they'd been chatting away and getting on really well.

"I care." said Alice a hint of anger coming into her voice.

"It's okay Alice there he is." Abby pointed out.

Hatter was running down the hill towards them.

"Come on. Let's go kill us a Jabberwocky." commanded Connor as he chucked his duplicate a gun.

As they entered the forest of Wonderland the atmosphere was tense to say the least. Connor kept shooting glares in Hatter's direction and whenever they spoke to each other it always turned into bickering.

"What's up with those two?" Alice whispered.

"I wish I knew." Abby replied.

"Right, David you're the expert. How do we attract the Jabberwocky?" taunted Connor.

"I'm sorry okay? Dad shouldn't have phrased it to you like that. But you did want to know; from now on you have to accept the truth." apologised Hatter.

He had a plan. With any luck it would attract the monster and get Connor back in his good books. Connor was so quiet, compared to him. It had been a long time since he last exploded.

"Don't talk to me about the truth. The truth is stupider than the lies!" Connor ranted.

Abby sensed that he needed to get whatever he was about to say off his chest. She wondered if that was why Hatter was winding him up.

"You asked for it! You're getting what you deserve."

"I NEVER ASKED TO BE THE CLONE ON THE SIDELINES!" Connor bellowed. "You're perfect, you're real you were actually born! Me, I'm a clone mate," he lifted up his shirt as he said this. "I was made to be the opposite of perfect."

Abby was shocked by his smooth stomach however Alice could see where this was going.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Hatter is brilliant!" Connor yelled. But it was not a compliment, it was a jealous accusation. "You fought in the resistance against an evil queen, you can use a gun, you've got a brilliant right hook, you win all the school fights and you got together with a girl who had commitment issues in a matter of days in the midst of all this! I'm adorkable Connor! I got bullied at school, my friend died because of me, people are afraid of giving me weapons, the only thing I'm good with is computers and I haven't been able to get through to Abby for two years!"

"What did you want to say to her?" probed Alice who was grinning her head off.

She knew exactly where this was going.

"I still can't even get my lips to form the simple words: I love you!" he bellowed. Then he stopped and panted for a few minutes. Abby's eyes widened. "Oh god. Did I just say all of that out loud?"

He looked over at Abby like a rabbit caught in head lights.

"Yes. Yes you did." confirmed Hatter smugly.

"Wow you _are_ brilliant." said Connor, this time as a compliment.

"I know." laughed Alice sidling up to her boyfriend.

"Not brilliant. Manipulative." Hatter laughed.

Everything would've been perfect, but then a huge shadow cast over the group. It was round about this time that Connor realised Hatter had not only got him to admit his feelings to Abby but to attract the creature at the same time. Was there anything the guy couldn't do? Connor lifted his gun and shot it. The creature was hard to miss when it was this close up. The bullet went in but only seemed to irritate the animal. Now it wanted revenge.

"Get behind that boulder guys!" Connor instructed as he started to run in the opposite direction.

The creature followed him. It wasn't fast, but it had huge legs which were an advantage for it. Connor had short legs. He tripped on a fallen branch and started shooting at the Jabberwocky from his low vantage point. He shot the legs first this time yet still managed to waste a few bullets with his bad aim. After he was satisfied that he'd made an impact this time Connor scrambled up and ran. The creature was now limping after him. He could see the others in the distance, their heads were watching from behind the boulder. He couldn't see Abby though. That was worrying. Then he heard her voice coming from behind the Jabberwocky.

"Oi!" The creature turned. "Leave him alone!"

She started to shoot; Connor had forgotten that her gun was more powerful than his. The creature lunged forward in anger and pain; its claw came flying through the air. It was a race against Connor and time to push Abby out of the way. He barely made it there. Flinging himself in front of her the creature hit him with its sharp talons. Connor went flying into a nearby tree. Abby was still on the floor, knocked down by Connor. So it was up to Alice and Hatter to shoot the Jabberwocky. The creature finally collapsed and lay still against the ground. Abby got to her feet and ran over to Connor.

"Connor? Connor! Please tell me you're okay, you've got to be alright, I love you, you idiot!"

"Really?" he asked wearily.

"Yes!"

"Great. I love you too and I've never been surer of anything in my life."

"Are you okay?"

"Being flung into a tree wasn't fun, but the bullet proof vest helped against the talons. I borrowed it off Hatter."

A few hours later Connor and Abby were ready to leave. They stood by the Looking Glass. Abby hugged Alice, and Connor hugged Hatter.

"Thank you. For everything." said Connor.

"My pleasure. Don't forget that you're brilliant too." reminded Hatter.

"Don't lose that boy! He's pure gold." Alice whispered as Abby hugged her. "Don't forget to breathe!" she reminded Connor in a louder voice.

They waved goodbye and together Connor and Abby stepped through the Looking Glass. This time they were ready to begin a new life.


End file.
